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Tuba Powered

I am pretty excited because I was able to begin teaching myself how to play the tuba yesterday. I have discovered that what I have is actually a sousaphone and is different from the tuba. The sousaphone is designed to be played standing up in a marching band as the instrument actually wraps around you, and the tuba is more compacted and is generally played sitting down.

My instrument was made in the 1920s in Elkhart Indiana by the Blessing Instrument Co. When I got it is was in pretty rough shape until Dave at Marshal Music put it back together for me. It was missing some key parts here and there and the valves where stuck. I had a lot of fun yesterday learning to make sounds and trying to play along with my favorite DeVotchKa songs.